6 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (3 June - Results & Review)

DOWNS…

5. MOVEZ

Natalya Kiana James
WWE

Kiana James winning her Raw debut match against Natalya should be a highlight for the evening, but handing out gold stars for doing the basics isn’t always enough.

James and Nattie burned through a flurry of arm-wringers, standing switches, rollups and other fast-paced exchanges before Kiana escaped a Sharpshooter and nailed the BOAT with a 401K for the “upset” win.

The match itself was intended to show that James belonged on the main roster by being capable of keeping up with a veteran like Natalya on the mat. Instead, it scanned as a rapid-fire series of moves with no rhyme or reason, other than to show Kiana could “go.”

There was nothing technically wrong with this match, but the sprint felt more like an audition than a wrestling contest. James could have a bright future ahead of her, and hopefully this win means she will be a featured player, while Nattie invoking Owen Hart backstage could actually be intriguing (or it could just be another meaningless development).

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.